McCarthy: Injured police officer may require more surgery

Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy talks about the police officer shot and wounded Wednesday night on the South Side after visiting him at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy talks about the police officer shot and wounded Wednesday night on the South Side after visiting him at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune)

Jennifer DelgadoTribune reporter

A Chicago police officer who was shot while on duty on the Far South Side Wednesday night may need additional surgery, Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Thursday.

The five-year police veteran exchanged gunfire with a 15-year-old boy after police stopped the teen and two others in the Morgan Park neighborhood, police said. The officer, whose identity was not yet released by police, was wounded in the left knee, police said.

The 15-year-old was shot in the arm and flank. He was treated at a hospital and released to police custody. The two other suspects are also being questioned, but no charges have yet been filed.

The bullet lodged in the officer's calf and doctors are worried about arterial damage, McCarthy told reporters outside Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where the officer is being treated.

The officer is in good spirits but also "medicated,” McCarthy said.

"He's already talking about getting back on the horse," McCarthy said.

Police "are looking at a number of different angles..what could have happened here," McCarthy said.